Hoosiers host IU Open Invitational this weekend

The IU men's swimming and diving team will host a strong group of competitors in the 11th annual IU Open Invitational this weekend at Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The Hoosiers will play host to Louisville for swimming and diving; Cincinnati for swimming; and Stanford, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Florida International, Purdue and Miami University of Ohio for diving. \nThe No. 12-ranked Hoosiers are 2-3 on the season and lost to a pair of top five opponents, No. 3 University of Texas and No. 4 University of California, in their last meet. IU is looking to bounce back in this three-day, unscored meet. \nJunior swimmers Ben Hesen and Pat Penoyar were impressive in their last meet in Austin, winning the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, respectively. Hesen was named National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com for his performance. \nJunior diver Taylor Roberts has also gotten off to a strong start this season. Roberts won the 3-meter diving competition in Austin and was named Big Ten Diver of the Week. \nThe Hoosiers have been training hard and are eager to get back into competition, diving coach Jeff Huber said. \n"My goal is to have them (the divers) dead tired by Thanksgiving," he said. "This weekend we'll have a chance to work on some new dives, and we hope to see some improvement. I think the meet will be well-attended and have very good competition."\nThe invitational will differ from the normal dual meet format, with preliminary heats in each event followed by the finals. \n"This is our first three day-long event. It should help us mentally prepare for the Big Ten meet because it mocks the format," senior captain Paul Sigfusson said. "The expectations are higher for this type of meet. If you don't swim well in the morning, you're not going to be able to come back for the afternoon session"